PROJECTS

Current examples of major projects supported through the INF include:

CESSIAM
The INF manages funds for the Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging, and Metabolism (CESSIAM) in Guatemala. This institution, established in 1985, is dedicated to the development of nutrition scientists in Central America through research on the intersection of nutrition with other disciplines, including gerontology.

ELLISON MEDICAL FOUNDATION - INF FELLOWSHIP AWARDS
The International Nutrition Foundation has received a five-year grant from the Ellison Medical Foundation of Bethesda, Maryland to reestablish the kind of institution building fellowship program supported by the United Nations University (UNU) from 1975 to 1985. The program is being administered in collaboration with UNU and the International Union of Nutrition Sciences (IUNS). Its mandate is to strengthen a limited number of stable centers of excellence for research related to the interactions of nutrition and infection. It is designed to assist institutions that already have a strong research record or research potential to improve their competence in any field related to this topic.

Candidates will be expected to have taken full advantage of the training available in their own countries (M.A., M.D., Ph.D.) For someone with an M.D. or Ph.D. it can provide postdoctoral training or it can support Ph.D. training wherever is best for the needs of their institution and individual needs. In some cases “sabbatical type” fellowships will be awarded to established professionals to broaden their research background or to learn new techniques.

Candidates who are the priority candidates of the selected institutions are interviewed on-site. Individual applications for fellowship will not be accepted. An international steering committee selects institutions, reviews staff development proposals, and and approves fellowship applications.

When candidates are selected, negotiations regarding place of training, acceptance by the training institution, and financial arrangements will follow. As in the previous UNU program, negotiations with the institutions providing the research training will determine the allowance for tuition and fees, living expenses, medical coverage, and the duration of the training period. Candidates must agree to return to their institutions for at least a five-year period.

The steering committee consists of Nevin Scrimshaw (U.S,) and Ricardo Uauy (Chile) cochairman, Cutberto Garza (U.S.), Franz Kok (Netherlands), and Emorn Wasantwisut (Thailand). The Board of the International Nutrition Foundation serves as the advisory committee to the program.

Link to more information on the EMF-INF Fellowship Program

THE FOOD AND NUTRITION BULLETIN
The quarterly FNB, established in 1978, is edited and published by the INF on behalf of the United Nations University. It makes available policy analyses, state-of-the-art summaries, and original scientific articles relating to multidisciplinary efforts to alleviate the problems of hunger and malnutrition in the developing world.

FNB is the most widely internationally distributed nutrition journal in the developing world. Its distribution is subsidized by UNU, UNICEF, IAEA, USAID/ILSI and private sources. The FNB is indexed in Index Medicus and the content is available through Medline.   Link to Food and Nutrition Bulletin.

GCFI: THE GLOBAL CEREAL FORTIFICATION INITIATIVES
GCFI has supported stable isotope studies at MIT and St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore, India that have established the quantitative adult requirements for lysine. Three-month field studies in Pakistan and China have demonstrated the efficacy of lysine fortification of wheat flour and these studies are being replicated in Syria.

IDPAS (IRON DEFICIENCY PROJECT ADVISORY SERVICE)
The Iron Deficiency Project Advisory Service (IDPAS) is a project of the International Nutrition Foundation and United Nations University. IDPAS is a documentation and technical information dissemination and exchange service that support those working to improve iron nutrition in developing countries and countries in transition. There are currently users from over 130 countries.

IDPAS is based on a lifecycle approach to iron nutrition and the need for various types of intervention strategies needed to reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency across a population. The project provides technical information, and timely responses to questions and requests for information. Covered topics range from how to effectively support advocacy for new micronutrient interventions and technical issues to a full range of research topics. It concentrates on iron interventions including food fortification, oral supplementation, education for dietary change and public health interventions that can improve iron nutrition and prevent anemia.

Every six to nine months, the current content of IDPAS Iron World is converted to Acrobat files and transferred onto a CDROM and sent out to users with limited internet access. The fourth edition of IDPAS Iron World on CDROM was produced in February 2003 and is being distributed to over 1800 persons working in the fields related to iron nutrition, mainly in developing countries and countries in transition.

IDPAS receives its primary support from the Micronutrient Initiative of Canada. UNICEF, WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Nutrition Foundation and the Gerald J. & Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, has provided additional support for project activities. All IDPAS services are free of charge to all those working in this field from developing countries and others who support them.

IDPAS is managed and maintained by part time professional consultants and research associates from the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. A network of experts and other organizations and projects assist with specific information requests.
                    
                    Project Director:
                                   Gary Gleason, Ph.D. (ggleason@inffoundation.org).

INFOODS
The International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS) was established in 1983 to promote international cooperation in the acquisition and dissemination of accurate food composition data. It later became an FAO-UNU program and the program coordinator now is an FAO staff member.

In addition to international conferences, the INF manages funds for INFOODS to support the UNU/INFOODS Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, a research project on statistical considerations in the preparation and use of food composition tables and databases.

RAP
Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP) is a UNU initiative to apply anthropological methodologies in a focused manner to the design, evaluation and improvement of nutrition and health-related intervention programs. RAP determines the actual or potential impact of such programs on health-related behaviors.

SUPPORT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY (UNU)
Established in 1975, one of the priorities of the UNU has been world hunger and malnutrition and their relationship to the social, economic and health problems of developing countries. The INF handles substantial funds from the UNU and other sources for support of workshops, research projects, fellowships, and institutional development for its programs in human and social development. It receives funds from UNU and other sources for the publication of FNB and its supplements.